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Topic: Budget 302 (Read 2343 times) previous topic - next topic

Budget 302

Does anyone know how much i can do with the 302 before stock crank and rods will be a problem?

My plan so far:

Rebuilding kit
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FEM-MHP174-000/

Main Cap Girdle
Stock Cyl Heads
Cam and lifter kit(have not decided wich one yet)
Alu intake and carb
Aftermarked shorty headers and 2.5 inch dual exhaust

Other than this there will be new: bolts, waterpump, timing chain, harmonic balancer, rocker arms....

As i dont have much experience with engine building, im hoping for some info on choosing cam/valvetrain setup. The car will be mostly street driven, with some autocrossing.  When i took the engine apart, i found roller lifters, is this stock? Should i be looking for a hydraulic roller setup?

Vegar

Budget 302

Reply #1 –
If this is a stock so 302 your going to be limited some with the heads.
Old Grey Cat to this.88 Cat, 5.0 HO, CW mounts, mass air, CI custom cam, afr165's, Tmoss worked cobra intake, BBK shorty's,off road h pipe, magnaflow ex. T-5,spec stage 2 clutch, 8.8 373 TC trac loc, che ajustables with bullits on the rear. 11" brakes up front. +

Budget 302

Reply #2 –
Yes its stock heads(not H.O). I know they will limit power gains, but they will have to do for starters.
 

Budget 302

Reply #3 –
If you're on a super tight budget, go to any salvage yard and find a 5.0 EFI Ford F-150 pickup and yank the heads. they have E-7 heads. Not the greatest, but a lot better than the E-6 heads. And pulling them from a truck is usually super cheap. The trucks are where Ford sourced the heads for the '87 and up Mustangs.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

Budget 302

Reply #4 –
Or you can grab the GT-40 heads from the 5.0 Explorer/Mountaineer.

Budget 302

Reply #5 –
He's in Norway, availability might be tough.
Old Grey Cat to this.88 Cat, 5.0 HO, CW mounts, mass air, CI custom cam, afr165's, Tmoss worked cobra intake, BBK shorty's,off road h pipe, magnaflow ex. T-5,spec stage 2 clutch, 8.8 373 TC trac loc, che ajustables with bullits on the rear. 11" brakes up front. +

Budget 302

Reply #6 –
Doh.

Budget 302

Reply #7 –
Kitz Kat: you are so right....

Im just gonna use the stock heads until i can afford alu heads.
I read somewhere that Ford dont recomend more than 400 hp out of a stock 302 block, and mine is not comming close to that kind of power now. Does anyone know how much the stock internals can handle?

Budget 302

Reply #8 –
I've always heard the roller castings are good to 500HP, but I've seen many surpass this.  Of course they had main girdles, the valley girdle and all supporting equipment and tuning.  The sock internals are good for quite a bit given it's been well maintained.  I don't know about the 'birds, but the Fox Mustangs had forged pistons up until 1992.

Budget 302

Reply #9 –
Yes, hydralic roller cams. You will not get close to 400hp out of the stock heads. Try more like 200-300hp with a well thought through setup. At the wheels with an AOD, it will be a lot less then that.

Unless you want to try boosting it...

Your interals will be stronger then the block as long as you treat it right.
Quote from: jcassity
I honestly dont think you could exceed the cost of a new car buy installing new *stock* parts everywhere in your coug our tbird. Its just plain impossible. You could revamp the entire drivetrain/engine/suspenstion and still come out ahead.
Hooligans! 
1988 Crown Vic wagon. 120K California car. Wifes grocery getter. (junked)
1987 Ford Thunderbird LX. 5.0. s.o., sn-95 t-5 and an f-150 clutch. Driven daily and going strong.
1986 cougar.
lilsammywasapunkrocker@yahoo.com

Budget 302

Reply #10 –
Thanks for the info Haystack. It has a AOD now, but i want to put a man transmission in it. If i can get a man. pedal assembly.... Parts/donor cars are hard to come by here...